Books I read in December 2013

No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene ****

Hands down the best memoir I've ever read.  This was a great book about a great family.  The author and her husband had 4 biological children then adopted 5 more.  I loved every single person in this family.  I wish they were my neighbors.

Beautiful Day by Elin Hildebrand ***

I didn't like everyone in this book.  Not by a long shot.  Some of them acted terribly.  I did like the overall portrait though.  It was of a loving family (that didn't always get along) on the wedding day of their youngest sister.  I love family dramas (but not so much in real life...).

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis ***

I read this book aloud to Mark for school.  (We actually read a lot of books, I mostly just mention the ones I exceptionally liked.)  We both liked it.  It was about a young man growing up in China.  He was apprentices to a coppersmith.  He got into all sorts of scrapes but always learned his lesson and came out on top.  It's a good book for 5th grade boys (and their moms).

Telling the Bees by Peggy Hesketh *

I didn't like this book.  I didn't like the characters or the weird meandering style.  I read it because it was compelling enough at the start and then I was stuck at an appointment and read and read and then I only had 100 pages left so I persevered to the end.  There was a lot of beekeeping information in the book.  More than I really needed.  Except without it there would have been more of the rambling and stingily doled out story and I certainly didn't want that.

Blah.

Real Life and Liars by Kristina Riggle **

I can't give this book a ringing endorsement because for one thing it was a little crude and rude at times and I don't like that.  Also, the characters were mostly self absorbed jerks.  Besides that, it was pretty interesting and thought provoking.  Even though I didn't necessarily like the characters, I did find myself rooting for them.